The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 5 - Chapter 261

Chapter 261:

Chummy Siblings

“You really do eat ryce, right? You’re not lying, are you?”

“We really do.”

Druid and I nodded, both a little befuddled. The lady grinned back at us with the sort of smile I knew I’d regret getting involved with. I took a step backward.

“Whatcha doin’?”

I turned around at the sound of a voice behind me and saw a man who looked like the lady. He was probably her brother, the owner of the grocery store. Their faces looked quite similar.

“They do exist! People who like to eat ryce! You lose this bet, sweet brother of mine!”

Huh? They had a…bet to see if anyone else liked eating rice? And winning the bet was what gave her such a creepy…I mean, such a slightly disturbing smile?

“Whaaat? I lost?”

“Yeah! These two people are my kin! My comrades!”

We did indeed enjoy eating rice just like she did…but for some reason I wasn’t sure whether I should smile and nod.

“Lies! All lies!” Her brother’s voice boomed through the shop. Then his eyes shot toward both of us, so we had to meekly nod. “Whoa. For real?” Her brother made the most incredible face.

Was it really that earth-shattering to find people who liked to eat rice?

“I don’t really understand them, but what a funny family,” Druid whispered in my ear.

And yes, they were a little too intense, but their banter was entertaining to watch.

“Alloui, you didn’t groom them to love ryce, did you?!”

“How cruel, sweet brother of mine. You know I would never stoop to such treacherous lengths! Unlike you!”

Um…can we just buy some meat?

“Say whaaat?”

“Oh, don’t play innocent. You’ve sent in plants before! Don’t you dare tell me you forgot!”

“But that was just…well, yeah.”

So he did cheat on their bet. Do they really take their betting this seriously? And also, why are they ignoring us?

“Oops! I’m so sorry. Okay, um, you wanted meat, right?”

Thank goodness. She remembers we exist.

“You two sure are alike,” Druid said.

“No, we’re not! Ugh!” they both screamed.

They…are alike, aren’t they? They even shrieked at the same pitch.

“Um, could you please get us the two types of meat you mentioned earlier?” Druid asked, covering his mouth. His shoulders were shaking slightly, so he was clearly fighting a losing battle to keep from laughing.

“Yes, sir. How many grams?”

“One kilo of each, please.”

“Sure thing. So I heard you say you were gonna mix it with ryce earlier… How exactly do you prepare that?” Alloui asked as she weighed our meat.

“I steam some rice, then I mix in the braised meat. After that, I squeeze them into mounds and serve them as onigiri.”

“Squeeze them…into mounds? O-ni-gi-ri?”

It really was tough to explain. How could I make it easier to understand?

“Wait, do you mean…”

“Hey, Alloui, you should stop right there if you know what’s good for you.”

“Oh, bite me!”

“It’s going to rain. How will you feel if our customers catch cold?” he said, looking out the window. Yeah, it does look pretty yikes out there.

“Oh, wow, it is gonna rain. Right, they also want some Hatow mother sauce. Go get some, will you?”

“Mother sauce? Which one? We’ve got four different kinds.”

Four whole sauces!

“Um…how are the flavors different?”

“Basically, different levels of sweetness.”

Oh, so they’re sweet. Do the people of Hatow just really like sweet foods?

“Then I’ll take the least sweet one, please.”

“Comin’ right up.”

While he walked off to get the sauce, I took another look outside. It was supposed to still be light out at this time of day, but the entire sky was covered in dark clouds. It wasn’t raining yet, but it was only a matter of time.

“Sorry about him. You guys are travelers, right? Is your inn nearby? If it’s far, you can always stay here until the rain lets up.”

“It’s right around the corner, so we’ll be fine. Thank you, though.”

Druid took the meat and sauce from Alloui’s brother and paid the bill.

“Come back and chat about ryce with me anytime. In fact, I insist.”

“Sure, I’ll come back soon.”

We hurried out of the shop.

“Phew. We made it just in time.”

Just as we safely arrived inside the inn, we heard the rain begin to pour outside. We’d really made it back just in the nick of time. If we got caught in the rain when it was this cold, we’d most likely catch pneumonia.

“Were you both okay out there?” Salifa rushed into the entryway as we stood there, looking outside. She was holding a guest towel for us.

“Yes, we were fine. We made it back just before it started raining.”

“Well, I’m glad you did! If you get stuck in the rain when it’s freezing like this, you’ll catch your death of cold. But you must be chilled to the bone! Go take a nice hot bath and get warm.”

“We will, thank you.”

“Oh, by the way, there was something I wanted to ask you.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“Dola brought back some ryce, so I was wondering if you could make that…um…whatchamacallit…that thingy with meat on top of it…I can’t remember its name.”

“You mean gyuu-don?”

I had given Dola a bowl of gyuu-don several days ago because he’d been curious about it.

“Yeah, that’s it! So, could you maybe teach me how to make it?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind. Are you sure you’re okay with the idea of eating rice?”

“I felt a little uncomfortable at first, but it was so delicious that I got converted.” Salifa clenched her fist proudly. She must have really loved it. It was pretty strange that rice was coming up so much in our conversations today.

I went back into our room, took a hot bath, and then went to the second-floor kitchen to prep for tomorrow. I finely diced both meats. I would braise half of it in a sweet and spicy broth, and I would add some medicinal herbs into that sauce to give the other half a savory zing. Boy, was I glad I bought several bottles of soy sauce in advance. But if I kept using them at such a quick rate, I would soon run out. Maybe I should look and see if this village has soy sauce, too. Oh, right, it’s called ponzu in this world. Since it’s the exact opposite in Past Me’s world, I’m worried I’ll get them mixed up. I’d better be careful. Okay, I’ll steam the rice in Rose’s shop…so I guess everything’s prepped for now.

And for tonight’s dinner, we were having omurice, a dish that had popped up in Past Me’s memories. It was bright-red rice blanketed in eggs, and it looked really yummy. Too bad the ingredients in this world were different. I couldn’t make an exact replica…

“The red rice tastes like toma, I think. So maybe I should cook it in toma sauce?”

I sauteed some finely diced meat and vegetables in my pan, then added cooked toma sauce and steamed rice and stirred everything together. Hm? There seems to be way more liquid in the pan than the way Past Me remembers it. Do I…really wrap this up in eggs?

I decided to do my best to copy the image I had in my mind, and I made a single plate of omurice. Hmm…I think I messed up. The eggs got all soggy from the extra liquid. They didn’t wrap up the rice very cleanly.

“Something wrong?”

“I messed up dinner.”

“Really? It looks good to me.”

“No, the eggs were supposed to completely surround the rice.”

“It’s okay, the eggs don’t have to do that. Can’t you just put them on top of the ryce?”

I could…but I wanted to get as close to the omurice in my memory as I could. It was a matter of pride. Okay, second attempt! Gee…it’s a lot harder to wrap up the rice than it looks.

“Let’s eat.” Druid gently gave my sulking head a couple of pats.

Hey, I know you’re laughing at me!

The toma-flavored rice with the fluffy eggs was very tasty; I just felt like the toma flavor was a little bland. Maybe I should cook down the toma sauce a bit more next time? That way, it won’t be so soggy, either. Yeah, I’ll give it another try.